Puerto Rico Re_Start 2 – 2019

The workshop will address the resiliency for the future of the Islands, with expected consequences beyond Puerto Rico, to the Virgin Islands, Guadalupe, Dominica, Barbuda, Haiti and more. Interdisciplinary participants, professionals and academics will gather around subjects of investigation and project proposals. The international participants, the UNESCO for Sustainable Urban Quality and Urban Culture, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico (PUPR), the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, the Puerto Rico Planning Board, the Center for Latin American Studies, the Office of Research and the International Center at UF, together with Puerto Rico' scholars, and stakeholders will work on the coordination of the comprehensive long-term research agenda, where topics related to a wide selection of issues will be addressed, and long-term priorities established. Three main sections of will guide the workshop:

1. Research Table Discussion

Will gather data and prioritize research objectives; this scientific meeting will discuss its conclusions publicly by the end of the workshop (economics, population, migration, infrastructure, housing stock, legal environment, finance). The research table-clearing house would promote mixed teams to develop grants and further research.

2. Public Evening Lecture Series

3. Design Laboratories

Professionals, faculty and students from UF, Polytechnic and international institutions from Europe and Latin America will participate in the visioning process. The Labs will convene interdisciplinary expertise into integrated proposals. Stakeholders and public officials will be invited to actively participate. The Workshop results will be presented publicly for discussion.